Any diehard Harry Potter fan knows the familiar pangs of longing when they think about the Wizarding World. We’d trade our boring non-magic jobs to be on the boat of 11-year-old crossing the lake to Hogwarts in a heartbeat.

So many of us are still waiting for our long-overdue school acceptance letter, but there are a lot of Harry Potter places right here in the Muggle world that are sure to keep the magic alive. Here are the top 17.
1. Alnwick Castle

Dating from 1096 and credited as the second largest inhabited castle in England, Alnwick Castle is an interesting destination in and of itself. But it also draws Harry Potter fans, as the inner courtyard was where Madam Hooch gave the first years their first flying lesson in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, and makes a reappearance in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
2. Leadenhall Market

If you actually want to go inside the Leaky Cauldron, as Harry does in the Prisoner of Azkaban after taking a ride on the Knight Bus, you’ll have to head to Market Porter Pub in London’s Borough Market.
4. Durham Cathedral

Apart from being a UNESCO heritage site, Durham Cathedral also appeared in several scenes of the Potter films, including the trio’s whispered conversations on the grounds and Professor McGonagall’s transfiguration classroom.
5. Platform 9 3/4

Don’t forget to head to King’s Cross Station to see Platform 9 3/4, which the Wizarding World graciously made visible to us Muggles after the popularity of the Harry Potter films. Unfortunately, you can’t lean through onto the platform (I tried).
6. The Jacobite

Take a ride on the Hogwarts Express itself, called by Muggles “The Jacobite.” The train runs along the Glenfinnan Viaduct in Scotland, where you can see the scenery that also appears in the films.
7. Gloucester Cathedral

The halls of this abbey served as the iconic corridors of Hogwarts in the films. When Harry stumbled upon the message, “The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir, beware,” in The Chamber of Secrets that was in Gloucester.
8. Harry Potter Studio Tour

This 13th century nunnery served as the set for much of Hogwarts castle in the films, including Professor Snape’s potions classroom and several other hallway scenes.
10. The Reptile House at the London Zoo

This is a great place to go camping, just as Harry and Hermione did when they were trying to find the Horcruxes in The Deathly Hallows book. The Forest of Dean scenes from the film version weren’t shot there.
13. Christ Church at Oxford

Christ Church is home to the Grand Staircase that students climbed into Hogwarts’ Great Hall in the films. The Great Hall at Christ Church also bears an eerie resemblance to Hogwarts’ Great Hall, because the filmmakers chose it as a model for the set.
14. Steall Falls

Located in Loch Elit, Steall Falls served as the backdrop for the scene of the first task of the Triwizard Tournament in The Goblet of Fire, when Harry defeats a dragon with his broomstick.
15. Millennium Bridge

No list is complete without The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, located in Orlando, Florida, which is the most elaborate recreation of the Harry Potter universe, complete with Hogsmeade, Hogwarts, and numerous thrills and attractions.
17. The Elephant House

This simple coffee house in Edinburgh doesn’t appear in either the books or films, but still, it’s where all the magic began. The Elephant House is where JK Rowling penned much of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. And thus, the most famous book series in the world was born.

We made a list of authors every speculative fiction lover should follow on Twitter. They’re on, they’re active and they have something interesting to say. Scroll down and see for yourself.

Margaret Atwood @MargaretAtwood

Author of The Handmaid’s Tale and Oryx and Crake, Margaret Atwood is considered one of the best dystopian authors. As a tweeter, she doesn’t limit herself to her profession — politics, policy and human rights are regular topics for her.

Mary Robinette Kowal @maryrobinette

This author is into magical realism, and her debut novel Shades of Milk and Honey won a Nebula Award for Best Novel. Robinette is an intelligent tweeter and celebratory drinker.

Woot! I got upgraded to first class for the trip to Ft Lauderdale. Have a drink. #marygoround

Connolly writes epic fantasies like The Way Into Chaos: Book One of The Great Way. When he’s not blogging or discussing his writing, he shares much of the general goodness of the internet, such as this GIF he RT’d recently:

Connie Brentford: Can you tell me who your ideal reader is for the Chronicles of Mara Lantern series?

D. W. Moneypenny: To be honest with you, I didn’t have a particular kind of reader in mind when I wrote Broken Realms. Now, since the book has been completed and has gone through the editing and packaging process, I’ve gotten a lot of opinions about who the “ideal” reader for the book would be. When I was completing the first draft, I started reading a YA fantasy book by Mark Frost called The Paladin Prophecy. That was the first time that it occurred to me that Broken Realms might be a Young Adult book, but I didn’t dwell on it.

A couple of months later, I got the edits back from the developmental editor (Gary Smailes at Bubblecow.net, an absolute genius).One of the first things he mentioned was it struck him as a Young Adult novel and that I should consider making Mara a couple of years younger. I didn’t have a problem with doing that, so I did. Other than that, I didn’t try to “youngify” the book or try to patronize younger readers by writing down to them in any way.

Since the book has been published, I’m not getting the impression that it is gathering an exclusively or even primarily Young Adult readership, whatever that might be.

I guess the short answer would be anyone who enjoys contemporary fantasy would be the ideal reader.

CB: When you wrote the first book and created the character Mara Lantern did you envision it as a series of books from the start?

DWM: Yes, the plan was to produce a series. The combination of alternate realities and the “system of magic” that make up Mara Lantern’s world could not be reasonably recounted in a single book. The plan for now is to write seven full-length books.

BOOK 1 Broken Realms

CB: What are the major themes in your novel?

DWM: Hmmm. The major theme is acceptance, letting go of skepticism. We have to embrace reality in order to deal with it, even if that reality doesn’t match our expectations. Too nebulous? Mara might say, metaphysical.

CB: Do you read other genres or do you limit yourself to only the genre that you write?

DWM: I’ve never been a genre-specific reader. I read everything from Edgar Rice Burroughs to John Grisham and Dean Koontz. I generally don’t read in the genre in which I’m writing at the moment, so while I’m working on the Mara Lantern series, I’ll most likely read something other than fantasy, unless something compelling pops up.

CB: What would you say was your best day as a writer?

DWM: I was a newspaper reporter and editor for about 15 years, but I think I would be hard pressed to pick a single day from that particular part of my life. In terms of this chapter of my life (writing fiction), it has barely gotten started, but so far I would have to say it was the day that I got my first feedback from my editor. He sent a written report with feedback along with the edits. The specificity of the feedback in terms of how I might go about improving the concepts and the world I was creating in Broken Realms was absolutely wonderful. I never expected to get that level of feedback and it boosted my enthusiasm for the project a great deal at a time that I needed the encouragement.

CB: When did you decide that you were a writer?

DWM: On some level, I think I’ve always thought of myself as a writer. I knew I wanted to go into journalism since before I was in high school, and even back then I talked about writing a book. For me, it has always been there, so there wasn’t a specific moment in time I can point to.

CB: Almost every writer puts a piece of themselves in their book. What part of you is in your book?

DWM: If you read skepticism or sarcasm in something I write, that’s me. There’s some of that in the book, particularly in Mara’s character.

CB: What is one thing that people may not know about you?

DWM: It’s not the writing part of creating fiction I enjoy the most, it’s the imagination part – sitting around dreaming this stuff up. That’s what I like the most, taking a situation or a character and twisting it, just a little, to make it something you can’t wait to tell someone about.

Broken Realms (The Chronicles of Mara Lantern, Book 1) is available on Amazon.

Karly Kirkpatrick and I have been social media friends for several years. After being impressed with her humor and several other things she discussed, I bought some of her books. I fell in love with her Bloody Little Secrets series. Her teen heroine, Vicki Hernandez, is a funny, quirky, authentic teenager. In the first few […]

As an indie author, you’ve taught yourself how to do countless things in order to publish and market what you know is a good book and if you’re not building your readership with Twitter you’re missing out on a huge opportunity. When I ask authors why they don’t use Twitter they mention two things. 1) […]

I learned most of my social skills from a nice, Southern lady, my mother. In true Southern fashion she could converse with anyone about anything and always knew the right thing to say. While conversation is a skill, to some people, it comes naturally. I used to joke with my husband that if mom ever […]

What keeps you from being the writer you want to be? Luckily, with changes in the publishing world, there is a clear path now from zero to making a good living as an author. It took me less than two years starting from scratch and while I don’t like to dwell on the negative, I […]

Writing and publishing books has always been a viable way to work from home and NOW is absolutely the best time to do this. I can give you a NOW example from my own work. My latest book, Make Money Online Vol. 2 – 67 Real Companies That Pay You To Work In Your Pajamas […]

I’m so happy to featured this week in Woman’s World Magazine! They asked me to be a part of the weekly feature called “America’s Ultimate Expert.” This week their article included some great work from home advice. The topics covered in the article are important to anyone considering working form home. I discuss the money […]

If you are ready to leave your commuter 9-5 job for something that allows you the utmost freedom to make money from home, let this book be your first step on that path. Make Money From Home Or Abroad Like A Rockstar explains what you need to know to pursue an online career either as […]

I’m delighted to present to you Make Money Online – 97 Real Companies That Pay you To Work In Your Pajamas. I’ve made my living online as a wordsmith for years now and I’ve often been asked about other ways to make money online that don’t involve starting your own business. I started doing research […]

If you are undecided about how you would like to start your work-from-home journey, The Make Money From Home Library is the helpful resource you need with over two hundred, real, work-at-home opportunities, tips explanations and tutorials. The jobs span a variety of occupations including writing, call center work, consulting, customer service work, virtual assistant […]

The busiest section of the Fiverr categories is Social Marketing. If you click on that category and sort them by rating you see most of the first few gigs have Top Rated Seller status and the sellers have sold thousands upon thousands of gigs. This category also has more gigs than any other Fiverr category. […]

I have a lot of questions for you today. They’re all about you. Have you Googled yourself lately? Go ahead and do it. Put your name in quotes at Google and see what comes up. If you have a distinctive name, the entire first page might be about you! Here’s my name on Google. There […]